She stared down at the wand in her hand which was emitting a pink glow, a feeling of dread and sickness curling in her stomach.

Dashing to the toilet she made it just before she emptied her stomach’s contents.

Lying her head on the toilet seat, one thought was running through her head.

Why me?

The answer was simple though. She had betrayed her friends, cheated on her boyfriend, and had gone against everything her house stood for - bravery, nerve, chivalry. Instead she had acted like a coward, ashamed and hiding away from the world, like that slimy Slytherin who had got her into this mess to start with.

She gritted her teeth and tried to hold back the tears as she realised that this baby would change everything.

-

The hatred burned in their eyes as grey locked onto brown. Tension sizzled like fire, and a glass shattered on the other side of the room. Neither of them moved an inch, they just stood there silently, waiting for the other to make the first move.

They don’t know how long they stood there. And then, one second the air was only thick with power, the next it was bright with the light of curses.

There was wasn’t a reason why they were duelling, they were doing it simply because they hated each other, and had done since first year. No, before that even, before they had even met each other.

And they were in seventh year now, they were head boy and girl, shared a common room, were supposed to be the ones everybody else looked up to, and were told that if they continued with their fights they would be expelled. But they did not listen, because they still hated each other with the same burning rawness that they had since they were children.

The duel lasted for a long time. They dodged, fired, got hit, blocked out the pain and then started the cycle again.

Then, the curses stopped firing as abruptly as they had started.

But the duel wasn’t over, far from it.

Because in that moment, as he strode towards her, trapping her against the wall of their Common Room, their lives as they knew them changed forever.

“What are you doing?” she hissed, her voice full of anger.

How could he answer that, when he didn’t even know himself?

The world seemed to stop as he leaned forward, his lips touching hers gently. He began to kiss her and in a fit of madness she pushed him away.

He stumbled and she dashed away, before he pinned her back to the wall, kissing her more roughly this time. She tried to resist but she couldn’t help but kiss him back, their tongues intermingling.

She didn’t know what she was doing. She was kissing him, the boy she had hated all her life. Yet she couldn’t stop, she just couldn’t.

And as their kissing got rougher, and their clothes became discarded on the floor, the more sure she was. She wanted this, she did, she did.

So she gave in, and became a victim to the lust.

-

Every minute they were apart she had a little ache in her heart and was wishing she could see him, but at the same time she was telling herself that next time she would tell him that it was over. But she never did.

She worried all the time that somebody would find out about them. They still fought and duelled all the time, part of the time so people wouldn’t get suspicious, the other times because their hatred for each other overruled the lust. Then afterwards they would make up, making love to each other over and over again, healing the pain.

They had been at it for months and now it was Valentines Day and she had decided, she was finally going to tell him. But then he bought her some flowers and looked at her with such a tender expression, and she just couldn’t bare to swipe that away, she just couldn’t break his heart like that.

So she kept her mouth shut tight and gushed over the flowers. Then at night, when she finally escaped from his clutches she cried alone to herself, wondering whether it would ever end.

-

She had to find him. She had to tell him. The desperation was riding through her like a tidal wave. She had searched all over but he was nowhere, but to her it seemed like he was everywhere.

Turning the knob to her room, she saw him, leaning against one of the fiery red walls of her room. He saw her, and strode towards her, closing the distance between them, capturing her lips with his. She tried not to kiss back but she was too weak and submitted to him.

Once he’d pulled away, he took one look at her face and asked, “What’s wrong?”

She had to tell him, had to get it over with.

“I’m pregnant.”

The words fell from her lips like rain on a stormy day. A flash of anger passed over his face before he turned away. The vase on her bedside table holding the flowers he had purchased for her flew across the room in a blur, shattering against the wall.

As she cringed away from him she caught a glimpse of his face. It was dark, like a rain cloud. Then he turned on heel, exiting her room.

On shaky legs she crossed the room, falling on her knees in front of the scattered pieces. With her head in her hands she sobbed, crying for everything she had lost, and everything she was going to lose.

When she finally wiped away the tears from her cheeks, she swept up the pieces of the vase with her hands. She could just use a simple Reparo and the vase would be as good as new. But she didn’t, because she wanted rid of him and everything to do with him. And this time she would follow through.

The shards gathered in her hands, she entered the bathroom and disposed of them in the bin. He had been in there before her. The air was foggy, steam covered the mirror, and etched on were the words ‘I’m sorry’.

She looked down, hoping that if she couldn’t see it, it wouldn’t make her crumble so bad.

With a sigh she turned on the tap, rinsing her hands as if she could wash him away. Scrubbing at her hands with the bar of soap the water turned red.
I’m bleeding, she thought numbly. She examined her hands, spotting the red dot of blood of her finger straight away. My fingers bleeding, she thought again. Just like my hearts bleeding. She saw spots in front of her eyes and managed to make it back into her room, and crawl onto her bed before everything went black.
-

He was lying next to her, his arm around her waist. She could feel him and when she opened her eyes, his grey ones were staring into hers.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, before pressing his lips into hers.

Compassion flooded through her; he really was sorry, he didn't mean to hurt her. But then she saw him in her mind; he was storming from the room, he was calling her all the names under the sun, he was flinging curses at her like there was no-one else in the world that he hated more than her. What were they doing? This wasn't love they were feeling. When you were in love you never wanted to hurt the other person, and all they did was hurt each other.

But what about the times when they weren't hurting each other? Rose thought, for a moment letting her mind flit back to the time when he had bought her flowers for Valentine's day, to when he had surprised her with a box of chocolates for no other reason than wanting to see her smile. If that wasn't love what was?

No, she had to break up him, had to bring this mess to an end.

Rose pulled away from the kiss, seeing confusion in Scorpius's eyes. She had the words ready, right on the tip of her tongue.

"I think we need to stop seeing each other."

At least that's what she meant to say.

-

His hands were tangled in her hair, his mouth pressed against hers. For a moment he pulled away from her, and his eyes stared longingly into hers.

"I love you," he whispered.

It was the first time he had said it, and she was so happy she felt like she could fly. All their problems slipped away and there was no one else in the world except them in that moment.

It was perfect.

-

He was staring into her eyes and it was just like that perfect moment that she spat out the words before she even had a chance to think them over, "I love you."

He had a temper, they fought, and she wasn't exactly sure what it was but something kept her coming back to him. She knew she was playing with fire but she just couldn't stay away.